Chennai Smashers grab the momentum

Bengaluru: With second placed Awadhe Warriors and Chennai Smashers (third) already qualifying for the semi-finals, their faceoff would decide where momentum would lie going into the knockouts. The Smashers seized it in a 4-3 win over the Warriors in the last round of Premier Badminton League fixtures, on Wednesday.

International action kicked off the tie as the Smashers’ Thai ace Tanongsak Saensom-boon-suk took on the Warrior’s Hong Kong shuttler Wing Ki Vincent Wong. World no. 11 Tanongsak raced ahead in the first game with impressive combination play to clinch it 11-6. However, world no. 17 Wong rallied with his nifty play at the net to take the second 11-9.

He went on to hold his nerve using well-fashioned defensive strokes to combat the Thai’s baseline strength, winning the decider 12-10. Wong was ecstatic as he took his shirt off in front of a noisy crowd. Awadhe had drawn first blood.

The first trump match of the night saw Parupalli Kashyap face Aditya Joshi. Kidambi showed his experience and nailed crucial smashes to take the first game 11-7. Joshi gave a great account of himself, racing 6-1 into the break in the second before routing Kidambi 11-5 to take the match into a decider. With the third game dead even at 6-5 at the break, Kidambi found an extra gear to seal the issue at 11-7.